Pluribus Episodes 6 & 7 Analysis: "I Feel Fine!"
Podcast: New Books Network – Pop Culture Professors
Date: December 24, 2025
Hosts: Professor Stephen Dyson & Professor Jeff Dudas
Series Analyzed: Pluribus (Apple TV)
Episode Overview
Professors Stephen Dyson and Jeff Dudas, both political scientists, provide deep, instant reactions to episodes 6 ("HDP") and 7 ("The Gap") of Pluribus, the speculative Apple TV series by Vince Gilligan. Their discussion centers on genre experimentation, overarching themes of individuality vs. collectivity, and rich symbolism—especially as those relate to privilege, technology, and cultural archetypes.
Episode 6 ("HDP"): Structure and Themes
Three-Act, Multi-Genre Structure
[02:13–10:28]
- The episode organizes itself around three central characters, with each segment adopting a different genre:
- Found Footage Horror: Carol’s Blair Witch-style investigation into the human-derived protein (HDP) conspiracy, bringing strong horror vibes (Blair Witch, found footage).
- Casino Royale Fantasy: Diabate ("Dear Baddie") living a ludicrous James Bond playboy fantasy in Las Vegas, surrounded by self-portraits and excess.
- Survivalist Drama: Manusis Oviedo’s solitary, post-apocalyptic journey in Paraguay, echoing The Road or The Last of Us.
Notable Quote (Dyson):
"[Pluribus] is a fictional show that is playing in a meta way with notions of fiction and genre, reality and genre in a very sort of writerly way." [10:33]
Genre as Commentary
- Each character enacts a “fantasy” tailored to their role:
- Carol = the last girl in horror, now a survivalist detective.
- Diabate = James Bond.
- Oviedo = isolated survivor.
- Carol, who herself is a fiction writer, is used meta-textually to point at the constructed nature of narrative and genre.
Thematic Deep Dives
Genre and Ideology
[05:09–06:56]
- Discussion of Pluribus as speculative fiction:
- Novum: The "hive mind" as speculative catalyst, shining a light back on modern society.
- Characters: Seen as ideological vectors more than psychologically "real" people.
Found Footage, Connectivity, and Information
[13:14–17:47]
- Comparison of Carol’s horror sequence to The Blair Witch Project.
- Blair Witch as early example of viral transmedia, paralleled with Pluribus's themes of hyper-connectivity and social media.
Quote (Dyson):
"It is very interesting to think about what argument Pluribus is making about connectivity and absolute, you know…social media and AI and all of those technical things..." [14:52]
Soylent Green, Atomization, and Surveillance Metaphor
[15:39–19:02]
- Discovery: HDP (milk) is made from people—invoking Soylent Green.
- Dyson's interpretation: Metaphor for data mining, algorithmic curation, and surveillance capitalism—people atomized, processed, and fed back as “junk calories.”
- Also compared to how large language models decontextualize and repackage data.
Quote (Dyson):
"What is a large language model, but taking whole things, disassembling them...feeding them back to the population in a way that's...missing the kind of individuality that is really deep and nutritious?" [16:49]
- Dudas's twist: It's also a metaphor for fiction itself: fiction “atomizes” real people and remixes types into “nutritious” or "empty calorie" archetypes for consumption.
Highlights and Memorable Moments
James Bond Parody & Masculinity
[21:15–28:27]
- Diabate’s Las Vegas exploits lampoon both the indulgence and self-regard of classic Bond.
- The “pleasure” is all self-referential—his fantasy confers social status in a society with no real outside observer; even within the hive mind, other characters seem unimpressed.
- Amusing detail: The only non-Diabate portrait in his penthouse is Las Vegas-era Elvis—a monument to excess.
Quote (Dyson):
"It’s like playing golf and cheating when you’re playing against yourself. What is the pleasure for, that you're the only person who’s experiencing that? You’re not getting social regard..." [24:12]
- Discussion of how Diabate's fantasy blends different eras of Bond's masculinity—more Connery "toxic" than modern Craig introspection.
Carol's Loneliness and Satire
[28:27–34:18]
-
Carol discovers she’s been left out of survivor Zoom calls.
-
Satirical moment: Carol worries more about Zoom call exclusion than the population starving.
- Quote (Dyson):
"...such a deliberate mismatch of stakes there, that I think it's intended to be satirical." [30:44]
- Quote (Dyson):
-
Dudas points out Carol's growing isolation and need for connection—a tragic, deeply human turn.
Synthesis and Speculation
[34:18–34:40]
- Both hosts suggest the narrative will push Carol and the Pluribus toward a synthesis: Carol (individuality) and Pluribus (collectivity) both have to "alter" to reach any meaningful future.
Episode 7 ("The Gap"): Dualities and Social Critique
Structural Focus: Carol vs. Manusis Oviedo
[37:39–40:15]
- The episode centers on a parallel “road trip” structure, contrasting two characters’ journeys and experiences as avatars for "developed" (Carol) and "developing" (Oviedo) world experiences.
Quote (Dyson):
"Carol this week is supposed to be an avatar for the...first world, the wealthy developed world...and Manusis Oviedo is supposed to be an avatar...for the experience of the developing world." [40:15]
The "Gap" as Metaphor
[38:30–46:37]
- Literal: The Darien Gap—Oviedo can’t cross this barrier on his journey north, symbolizing migratory difficulty.
- Figurative: The immense "gap" between privileged and unprivileged existential experience.
- Carol’s route: Smooth, resourced, privilege-laden (“absurdity to absurdity”).
- Oviedo’s journey: Perilous, resourceful, and painstaking—reflecting deeper realities of migration.
Quote (Dudas):
“Oviedo is now a migrant…the road trip has become...explicitly...a migrant story...” [54:27]
Road Trips, Class, and Access
[51:21–56:01]
- Carol’s travel: Effortless, supported by Pluribus ("turn on pump one").
- Oviedo: Must siphon gasoline, leaves money, navigates hostile and changing environments, respectful of property.
Confronting Nature: Privilege vs. Survival
[56:01–57:59]
- Carol: "Confronts" nature on the golf course—themed, curated, leisure-based contact.
- Oviedo: Faces the Darien Gap and jungle as an existential threat. Has to physically and psychologically endure real peril, increasingly isolated.
Social Critique via Appropriation and Decadence
[58:11–59:38]
- Carol appropriates social goods (art, fine dining, fireworks), converting public, collective experiences into private indulgence.
- Satirical/critical subtext: These are not just signs of her "giving up" but are characteristic behaviors of wealthy first-world societies.
Music as Narrative Key
[46:59–51:01]
- Carol repeatedly sings R.E.M.'s "It’s the End of the World as We Know It," scene cutting before "and I feel fine"—suggesting ambiguity in her emotional state and satirizing first-world fatalism.
- Dyson analyzes the song’s polyvocal, contrapuntal nature, tying it to the episode’s dualities: world-ending versus personal wellness, mass society versus individual feeling.
Quote (Dyson):
“The End of the World as We Know it...could be seen as a musical sort of key to what's going on in the show as a whole...The End of the World is actually an affordance...for some time to be alone and sometimes to think.” [47:46]
Submission to Help: Circumstance and Culture
[64:11–66:50]
- Carol and Oviedo both ultimately require help from Pluribus, but their routes to asking are different:
- Carol's is triggered by ennui and indulgence-gone-wrong (literally almost blows herself up with fireworks).
- Oviedo seeks to avoid Pluribus aid at all costs but is physically forced to accept it after a dangerous journey.
Quote (Dyson):
"It’s not the individual…it’s the way that circumstances play upon individuals. And therefore you should recognize individuals who are different from yourself as having an ultimate human sympathy." [67:15]
The Age of Aquarius: Ending on Hope?
[67:52–68:23]
- The show closes with "The Age of Aquarius," evoking a (perhaps ironic) sense of unity and collective hope—even as the narrative is freighted with division and critique.
Notable Quotes & Timestamps
-
On genre play:
"The three part structure we've identified...is Vince Gilligan playing with three different genres within even this one episode."
— Jeff Dudas, [06:56] -
On the horror segment:
"It's very obviously, it seems to me, a throwback to the Blair Witch Project and that entire kind of guerilla genre of horror movies..."
— Jeff Dudas, [07:38] -
On the show's meta-text:
"Carol is an author of fantastic fiction...that in that three act structure...our three central characters are all sort of living a fictional fantasy of how to exist in this new situation..."
— Stephen Dyson, [10:33] -
On privilege:
"[Carol's actions] are not abnormal or irresponsible. The critique is...these are actually the characteristic behaviors...in the first world."
— Stephen Dyson, [46:37] -
On migration:
"Oviedo is now a migrant...and the way that he interacts with the journey is very different from Carol."
— Jeff Dudas, [54:27] -
On the show’s central duality:
"...Carol is in this sense standing in as an avatar for the inherent individualism of humanity. And the Pluribus is standing in for the inherent need...of connection."
— Stephen Dyson, [34:02]
Key Takeaways
- Pluribus is a highly self-conscious, meta-reflexive show, constantly referencing both genre conventions and societal themes (technology, collectivism, privilege, individualism).
- Episodes 6 and 7 deliberately set up genre contrasts and social critique through the experiential divide between privileged (Carol) and marginalized (Oviedo) archetypes.
- The series satirizes, yet also sympathizes with, both individualist and collectivist predicaments, pushing towards an (as yet unresolved) synthesis.
- Music, especially R.E.M.'s "It’s the End of the World As We Know It," and iconic settings (Las Vegas, Darien Gap) serve as keys to interpreting character psychology and societal critique.
- Both personal and structural readings are available: the series holds space for both literary, psychological realism and sharp allegorical commentary.
For further reactions and frames, the professors actively invite feedback and cross-readings from listeners in the comments section, valuing pluralistic engagement with the show’s ideas.